India-Bangladesh rail links closed after 1965 war with Pakistan will reopen: Hasina

The train links between India and Bangladesh that were closed after the 1965 India-Pakistan war will reopen, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said.

She revealed the plan after inaugurating first intercity trains on Dhaka-Kurigram-Dhaka and replacement of Rangpur Express and Lalmonirhat Express rack railways via a video call from the Ganabhaban in the capital on Wednesday.

“We’ve relaunched all the rail links to the northern region. Now we want to restore the links that Pakistan closed after its 1965 war with India,” she said.

Besides development of communication, Bangladesh Railway will make more profits once the rail links to India reopen, Hasina hopes.

Rail links between India and Bangladesh reopened in 2008 through the Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express in 2008 and Khulna-Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express in 2017 after a long time.

The authorities are also working to restore some routes like Haldibari-Chilahati and Akhaura-Agartala to increase rail links between the two countries.